Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday said it started a new round of talks with private-equity firm Carlyle Group to acquire the nation’s No. 2 cable television operator, Kbro Co (凱擘), after the two sides failed to close a NT$32.8 billion (US$1.02 billion) deal by deadline because of regulatory restrictions.
The nation’s second-biggest telecom operator said it was aggressively seeking new options.
The initial talks fell through because the Cable Television Act (有線電視法), enacted in 2003, bars the government from investing in media companies. The Taipei City Government indirectly owns shares of Taiwan Mobile though its 15 percent stake in Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), which is the parent company of the telecom carrier.
The shares were acquired in a share-swap by Fubon’s banking unit in 2005.
“Both sides have a strong interest in completing this deal. We are working on new options to facilitate [the transaction]. There are also discussions between the companies about new terms including price,” Taiwan Mobile spokesperson Josephine Juan (阮淑祥) said by telephone.
“We are open to all kinds of possibilities including that. Nothing is final yet,” Juan said in response to a question on whether Taiwan Mobile would consider spinning off its cable TV business in order to buy Kbro without breaking the law.
Taiwan Mobile inked a deal with the US private equity firm in September last year to buy 100 percent Kbro shares for NT$32.8 billion in a cash-and-share swap deal.
The contract expired yesterday because of the National Communications Commission’s opposition.
Taiwan Mobile had pinned its hopes on a revision of the regulations to allow the government, political parties and the military to own less than 10 percent of media companies.
The draft amendment has not passed the legislature.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to